Frederick breitenfeld



Aug, 25,4 1925 1,551,285q

F. BREITENFELL y WRENCH Filed Jan. 14. 1924 Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED s'IA'liasxl VAITENT, OFFICE- FREDERICK BREITENFRLD, oF NRW YORK, N. Y.

WRENCH.

Application filed .Tanuaryv14g 1924. Serial No. 685.974.

the tightening of the jaws around the bolt head or nut by means of a screw, and once adjusted in some required position the jaws remain fixed until separated or Yforced further together by further adjustment of the screw. In the actual operation of such a wrench, one of two things may occur.` yHaving tightened the jaws of the wrench Vonto a nut, the operator, afterr turning the wrench through a'certain angle, will have to unloosen the '-'jaws .slightly Ain order to.

get a grip on two other faces .of the'nut and then retighten the jaws before exerting a turning force again, and this process will have to be /repeated a number of times, since ay wrench is never turned around in a complete arc of 360 degrees orV over. Ordinarily, however, the jaws will be originally tightened just sufficiently to leave a slight clearance between them and the nut faces. This allows changing the grip from one set of nut faces to another without nnscrewing the aws each time, but itmeans that the jaws are turning the nut by a pressure upon the nut edges, which is injurious to the nut, especially in the casek of nuts of small size and of a soft material. Should the edges become rounded by such constant' wear or by. a probable slipping of the wrench jaws, the nut becomes very difcult to manipulate andA may become useless. f l y My invention avoids these disadvantages by providing means whereby the mere pressure of the operator upon the wrench handle as he starts to turn the nut after grip,-V ping it, will serve to force the jaw faces together andy thus pinch the nut faces firmly. In changing his grip upon the nut,

the jaws will loosen slightly and suiiciently by the mere fact of his ceasing to exert a turning force upon the handle.

Further advantages vof my constructionl Vlie in the ability to change the distance between the jaws by merely pushing lthem togetherz or pulling them apart, thus doing away vwith the usual turning of the screw; in the fact that my wrench must of necessity be used inthe proper manner, i. e.,

with the turning force upon the handle exertedv in the directionof the open space between thejaws; and in its great simplicity of design, which results in economy of manufacture; L

In Fig. l, I have shown a viewA of my wrench.. j f F 2 is an elevation partly in section.

perspective Referring to the drawings, l denotes an outside or fixed kjaw having an integral shank portion 6 provided with a plurality of cut teeth y9 disposedy along its upper edge adjacent the rearv end thereof. yAn inside or movable jaw 2 is slidably mounted on the shank16 and thewalls of the openingV embracing'the Yshank are of a size to y Y permit veryv slight relative movement, of the two members... The jaw Qiscontrolled `inrits movement against the face of a nut by means of a handle'B comprising'agrip portion terminating at its forward end in anV upturned portion provided with an open-l ingto receive the shank 6, as clearly illus# trated in Fig. 2. The upper rear edge of this opening is curved downwardly to provide a tooth 4 adapted to engage the teeth 9 of the shank, the tooth being normally held inl engagement with the teeth 9 by means of a fiat spring 5, which lis disposed in a projected under portion of the opening for the shank, and which yieldably bears against the latter to force the two members together. The nose 8 of the upturned portion of the handle 3 is substantially va curvedA edge surface described by f a curve having its center point located somewhere in the rear of the tooth 4 so that as the handle moves about the fulcrum point lof tooth 4 the curved bearing surface or nose will move into closer relation with the fixed jaw l and against the rear surface of themovable'jaw 2. A projection T at ,A i

way, the handle will pivot around tooth l and very evidently a great forward pressure will act at point 8, forcing the jaws together and pinching the faces of the nut. It is not contemplated that the handle should ever deviate any substantial amount from its practically parallel position relative to the shank 6. A very small move-- ment at the end of the handle will take up anyv play between the jaws and the nut faces. This play of course will never eX- ceed the distance betweentwo teeth.

lt is quite conceivable that by shaping the .jaw'faces other than flat, or by cutting teeth therein, this wrench may be adapt-ed to be used for pipes and other circular objects, without departing. from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

la, nla wrenchofthe character described, the combination of a fined.y jaw having a shank, aijaw movable withv respect to the lirst, and; means slidably mounted on said shankv and movable. relatively of both jaws to exert pressure against the movable jaw in the direction of the .fixed jaw.

Q. In ax wrench of the character described, thel combination of a fixedV jaw having an integral toothed, shank, a second jaw ad justable Vover said shank, and a separate handle member independently adjustable over. said shank` and having a projection to engage and fulcrum in the toothed portion of the shank and a bearing surface to move against said second jaw to eXert pressure against the latter in'the direction of the fixed jaw.

3. A wrench as claimed in claim 2, including a spring member disposed between the shank of the lined jaw and the handle member to hold the said projection in engagement with the toothed portion of the shank, substantially as described.

l. A wrench, comprising a fixed and a movable jaw, and a separate handle member independently adjustable relatively to both jaws and having a bearing surface movable against the movable jaw to exert pressure against the latter inthe direction ofthe fixedjaw.

5. A wrench as claimed in claim 2, in which the said bearing surface comprises a curved surface, the. center point of which is disposedrearwardly of the fulcrum point of the projection, whereby rotary movement of the handlewith respectto `the shank will cause the curved surface farthest from the fulcrum point to `advance in the direction of the fixed jaw and against the movable jaw.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa.- ture.

FREDERICK BREITENFELD. 

